Alfred Caro was born in Berlin, Germany on July 27, 1911. He came from a close nit family with 3 brothers and 3 sisters. Growing up he was very active in sports and was part of numerous sports clubs where he boxed and ran track. His father was a very proud German man, and a decorated WW1 veteran. Caro recollects “Father was 100% German, loved Germany, and fought for Germany.” When Hitler came to power in 1933, laws against Jews immediately came into action.. The Jewish population was taken completely by surprise. Caro states “Father had us sing German National songs… I remember singing them in my house… my parents never thought something like this was possible.” After the Nuremburg Laws were set in place, the Caro’s knew they had to leave Germany, Caro recalls “(The laws were) a hit to your face, we were not people anymore.” However, in 1937-1938 a male from each family was sent to investigation. No one knew why they were being investigated; however, they knew that once you were taken, you never came back. Caro immediately went into hiding. He heard from his mother that the police had been coming to their house everyday and eventually volunteered to go to the police station so no other family members had to go. He was then transported to Camp Sachenhausen. There Jews were commanded to do manual work with little food. The camp was surrounded by a line, and if you took a single step over that line than you were immediately shot. The Nazi’s did everything in their power to make life in the camp as miserable as possible. However, Caro was one of the luckiest guys in the world, all thanks to his mother, and after 6 weeks in the camp he was released.. After his release he went to Columbia and worked in the mines. After years of doing that he came to New York with his sisters, and eventually married and moved to Alabama. He never saw his parents or brothers again.
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